Parkinson's Disease is a devastating neurological illness. It is currently estimated to affect over thirty million people worldwide and its prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate as the population ages.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by progressive debilitating somatic symptoms including, tremors, rigidity, bradykinesis, and postural problems. PD patients also commonly experience dementia, ataxia and dysphasia, as well as secondary depression, psychosis and emotional suffering. Perhaps most troubling, the average life expectancy of patients with PD is substantially reduced. As a result, there is a high emotional cost to the families of PD patients, and the financial burden both to the patients and to the health care system is astronomical.
Partly due to the rising profile of the disease, tremendous efforts have been made over the past four decades in an attempt to find an effective treatment or cure for PD. Unfortunately, despite these efforts most patients have experienced little relief from current treatment regimes, including from available medications, surgeries and implants. Indeed, the benefits from the standard treatments are slight, usually short lived, and often are accompanied by appreciable toxicity and expense. Finally, although promising, further testing and use of stem cells or other embryonic cells appears to lie far in the future.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new methodology for treating PD and other neurological disorders that is currently available, affordable, and relatively free of side-effects and contraindications.